


Interlude

by DE_Winters



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Angst, Badass Rauru, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Headcanon, Non-Annoying Rauru, Rare POV Character, hopefully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 04:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11524881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DE_Winters/pseuds/DE_Winters
Summary: Link was asleep for seven years.Ganondorf lost Zelda, but he knew exactly where Link was.And as the only Sage in the Chamber of Sages, Rauru is the boy's only defense against the dark.





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> I thought of this a while ago, but only recently had breakthroughs into how I wanted to develop Rauru's voice, so tada!  
> In all likelihood, those seven years in the Chamber of Sages were kind of boring, but I did think it would be interesting if this sort of thing happened. I know Ganondorf later uses Link to lure out Zelda, but perhaps that wasn't his first idea.
> 
> Anyway, I'm done rambling. Enjoy!
> 
> I don't own Ocarina of Time or the characters. They belong to Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto.

Rauru clasped his sword in both hands, holding it straight above his head.

“One…” he breathed, “two…three…four…five…six…seven and…eight.”

On ‘eight,’ he set his feet apart, leaned his weight onto his right leg, and let his arms come down until he was holding them horizontally. He kept the sword in his right hand, so his arm looked like a very odd spear.

“One…” he said again, allowing himself a quick look down to make sure his foot was well away from the weapon. Holding his blade during his daily stretches had quickly become second nature, but dropping a sword and nearly slicing his own toes off was not something he was going to easily forget. “Two…three…”

He was in the middle of ‘four’ when a loud _boom_ echoed throughout the chamber.

Rauru didn’t quite flinch, but the noise made him stiffen. It was the third crash within an hour, which only meant one thing – Ganondorf’s monsters were close to breaking his seal again.

“Here we go again,” he grumbled, casting a quick glance at the sleeping boy behind him. “Why do they always have to interrupt my sapsido?”

Link, of course, said nothing.

Rauru chuckled a little as he lowered his sword, straightened up, and cupped both hands over his medallion, listening. He knew better than to expect an actual response from Link, who had spent the last four years in the Goddesses’ enchanted sleep, but it didn’t stop him from talking at the boy from time to time. Maybe it was because it made him laugh a little each time, just like his made-up word ‘sapsido,’ short for ‘stretches and poses so I don’t feel old,’ did. Not that he really _needed_ to do those exercises, since his body was just as flexible as it was when the Goddesses had first constructed it for his continued existence in the chamber, but he enjoyed the break from the monotony of just _waiting_.

The quiet rang in his ears, and Rauru let go of his medallion with a sigh. “I guess I’m still on my own.”

The Goddesses were silent, just as they had been every time he had prayed to them over Ganondorf’s monsters, just as they had been since Ganondorf himself had touched the Triforce.

_Boom!_

Rauru felt rather than saw the impact shake the walls, as the plain, enclosing white stone was hidden under his illusion of black emptiness and tireless waterfalls. The only thing that showed him the door was his protective seal, marked with the sigil of his medallion. The light of the shield was starting to flicker dangerously.

He snatched up his sword and walked across the darkened floor. By his reckoning, he had about three more _booms_ before the sigil would start to crack, which would enable him to break the seal easily and let the energy backlash hurl the monsters away from the chamber. With a little luck, he would be able to refix it with the power stored in his medallion before any beast could get through the door.

But he had his sword in case he wasn’t so lucky.

This was the part Rauru hated the most – this waiting. It always seemed to get extra quiet in the lulls between the monsters’ collisions with his shield, and the illusions over the chamber made it seem like the rest of the world had suddenly fallen away. 

He felt the power inside his medallion grow warm around his neck, and his heartbeat was starting to climb up towards his ears.

“Sapsido,” he whispered, chuckling to himself. It helped, if only a little. 

It would be over soon enough an—

_Boom._

_Boom!_

_**BOOM!** _

The seal exploded in on itself with a flash of light.

Rauru fell back with a yell, eyes watering, and world above him went from black to white as his illusion shattered. 

He heard the cold rattle of bones and deep, guttural growls as he struggled to sit up, and his tearing eyes found blobs of brown and white, swords and spears.

No.

_No._

There couldn’t be Stalfos and Moblins here. There should be Mad Scrubs and Lizalfos and Keese, Ganondorf once sent _Keese_ to try and kill the boy—

Rauru couldn’t fight these. He _couldn’t_ —

 _No_. He had to fight. He had to _try_.

Otherwise, Hyrule was doomed.

He staggered to his feet, blinking away the last of his tears, and planted himself in the chamber’s doorway as a Moblin charged at him.

Rauru caught the spear in his crossguard and directed the blow over his head just before it impaled him.

The beast’s face swam above him, blistered from the light of his exploding seal and utterly _murderous_. It yanked its weapon back and swung it as blindly and furiously as if it were a sword.

Rauru matched its attacks, and within seconds his arms were aching and sweat was coursing down his face. Each blow he blocked made white flash behind his eyes and his heels were sliding back on the stone and no, no, _no_ —

 _Focus_. He couldn’t lose his head, not now. _Breathe, breathe, breathe_.

The Moblin was twice his height, solid as a tower, but it was smaller than the door.

 _They can’t all charge in, they’re too big_ —

The beast in front of him suddenly burst in a cloud of dark smoke, a Stalfos lunging into its place. Rauru threw himself forward, setting himself firmly in the doorway again as he blocked the skeleton’s sword.

He could see another Stalfos and Moblin behind his foe, struggling to get close to the chamber.

 _Focus_. They couldn’t get past him. Not one.

The Stalfos was smaller than the Moblin, but no less brutal. All Rauru could do was parry, slash for slash, stab for stab, until a change in attack gave him an opening to land a single blow against its ribs. But as the skeleton stumbled back, the second Moblin charged for him and it was all he could do to stand his ground.

He went from one to the other, back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. Soon he was trembling, burning with exertion, air searing in his lungs, but he couldn’t stop. _Just a bit more_ , he kept thinking. _A little longer_. 

But the encouraging voice soon faded away, too breathless to continue until finally, _finally_ , the Stalfos shattered against his sword.

The Moblin lunged for him, but as he jumped away, a heavy boot smashed the skeleton’s skull, sending a wave of smoke into their faces. The Moblin choked, for a moment unbalanced, and Rauru swung his sword into the pig’s abdomen as hard as he could.

The beast exploded against his blade and Rauru felt a rush of exhilaration as he fought to regain his own balance. He could do this, he could actually do this, there was only one—

An inhuman shriek pierced his soul.

He felt himself falling, but he couldn’t stop it.

He was frozen, icing over in a wash of _coldcoldcoldpainpainpain_ that tore at his ears and his heart and his eyes and—

He came to on the ground, cold dirt in his mouth and blood hot on his neck. He reached out, blindly, looking for his sword, and felt his fingers close over rotting cloth.

A ReDead.

Rauru thrust his hand down his cloak, numb fingers scraping for his medallion. It hurt to move, like he was swimming in ice, but the creature was above him, mouth opening, another scream would tear him apart—

His hand finally closed over his medallion and he forced it into the air, turning the ReDead pale and still with its light, but even his power washing over him couldn’t warm him, couldn’t help him stand up or grab his sword.

The medallion was getting hot in his hand, burning like a miniature sun in the wasteland of what was once the Sacred Realm. The ReDead was starting to dissolve in its glow, but Rauru couldn’t wait for it to fall apart, or there wouldn’t be anything left for his seal.

With one last burst of effort, he let the medallion fall onto his neck and swung his sword as hard as he could.

The ReDead fell to the ground, cut in half, and Rauru wanted to scream.

Everything _hurt_. Air was searing his lungs and his eyes were starting to stream again, but from sweat or tears, he couldn’t tell. And he _ached_ in a way he hadn’t for so long, a deep cold ache that had seeped into his bones—

His head suddenly snapped up, looking at the ruined, utterly silent landscape before him.

_Where was the second Stalfos?_

He braced himself in the chamber’s doorway again, clutching his sword, searching—

There was a rattle of bones behind him.

No. 

_No._

_No!_

The skeleton was on the Triforce platform, bony fingers fisting in the unconscious boy’s hair, sword held high—

Rauru was too far.

He tried to run, hand scrambling for his medallion, but it wasn’t enough, he knew it wasn’t enough—

He had failed.

_No, no no, please, no…_

The hilt of his sword burned in his grip, and Rauru _knew_ it was his only chance.

He clasped the weapon with both hands and hurled it as hard as he could.

The Stalfos’ blade was at Link’s throat when Rauru’s sword hit its spine with a bright green flash, breaking it apart.

Link slid bonelessly to the floor.

Rauru wanted to run to him, to check on him, but he couldn’t. Not yet.

Instead he looped around the back of the chamber, grabbed his sword, and drove it into the top of the Stalfos’ skull.

Purple smoke rose into the air, and Rauru ignited his medallion once again. The dark energy flitted away from his light, hissing. Rauru strode to the entrance, casting the smoke out into the wastes and slamming the door at last.

“ _By the power gifted to me by the will of the Goddesses_ ,” he prayed, cupping both hands around the warm medallion and pressing it to the door. “ _I seal this chamber with a shield, a shield to repel the darkness!_ ”

He shut his eyes against the blinding light, and soon the gentle sound of lapping water filled his ears. The medallion went cool in his hand, but when he looked, his sigil was glowing warmly over the door…the door that hidden by his illusion.

The seal was in place at last.

Rauru turned and ran.

The world blurred and wavered around him as he moved, making his aching legs tremble and give out, but he shoved the pain aside and crawled blindly to the Triforce.

Link was sprawled on the floor, utterly still and quiet. There was a large splotch of red puddling next to his head.

“ _No_ ,” Rauru breathed, pulling the boy into his arms and reaching for his neck. “No no no, good Goddesses _no_ —”

The skin under his fingertips was smooth and dry.

Rauru blinked, and two warm tears fell onto the back of his hand.

There was no wound on Link’s throat.

No blood.

There wasn’t even a line where the skeleton’s blade had touched him.

Rauru rubbed his eyes, and then rubbed them again.

Nothing.

The only red thing he could see was the empty platform for the Sage of Fire.

Link was completely unhurt.

Link was _alive_.

Rauru’s blindly thrown sword also hadn’t touched him, which was no less than a miracle.

 _Actually_ , he thought, remembering the green light, _perhaps it_ was _a miracle_.

Rauru suddenly felt very cold.

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it before. Ganondorf had torn the Sacred Realm and Hyrule apart. People were suffering, entire races dying, and yet, years into the Gerudo’s reign, Rauru was still the only Sage in the chamber. He had heard nothing from the other five, even though they surely must have gotten their calls of awakening by now. He had heard nothing from their leader, Princess Zelda, and not even Kaepora Gaebora’s eyes could find her now. 

He had heard nothing from the Goddesses when though their land needed them the most.

Because Ganondorf had the Triforce, which mean he had control of their powers and wills. 

The legend of the creation of Hyrule and the Triforce had become little more than a children’s story, but Rauru couldn’t see any other explanation. It was the only way Ganondorf could have wrecked havoc over the kingdom without being struck down.

And yet, that flash of green light…that _miracle_ , it had to have come from Farore.

She saved Link, even trapped against her will.

Rauru shuddered, and the boy slid out of his arms and sprawled on the floor again, lying on his stomach.

It should have been fine. Link had been sleeping like that for years and it hadn’t looked anything but _fine_.

But that was how he fell when the Stalfos dropped him, and Rauru couldn’t stop himself from imagining blood pooling underneath him all over again.

He had been so _close_ to failing…

He gave himself a shake, and carefully rolled Link onto his back, straightening his legs and smoothing down his bangs. That looked better, a little bit, but…

Rauru reached for the boy’s wrists, folding them over his chest.

Now that _was_ better. He didn’t look quite so…wounded, not like this. He looked serene, peaceful even. Rauru released a shaking sigh, forcing a small smile. There wasn’t anyway he could picture Link dying like this, not when he could see the boy’s unblemished neck clear as day. Not when he could actually see his chest rise and fall, smooth and even.

Rauru took a deep breath to try and calm down.

The pain he had shoved aside earlier was coming back strong, making every muscle in his body throb and every joint feel broken. It should have been funny, or at least ironic, that a body that wasn’t even truly real could hurt so much, but Rauru couldn’t find it in him to be amused. It was his own fault, really. He was always the one of the Ancient Sages who missed being a Hylian the most, who missed the feel of sunshine and candles warming his back as he scratched away at his parchment. Of course he would get a body that felt like a flesh-and-blood Hylian, even if all it took to refresh him was a few hours of mediation.

Mediating for the next few _days_ sounded very good to Rauru right then, but as he shifted to fold his legs under him, he saw his sword lying against the back wall, where he had dropped it after killing the Stalfos. For a moment, he thought about leaving it, grabbing it later when it wasn’t so hard to _move_ , but he knew that wouldn’t work. He wouldn’t be able to really rest unless it was close at hand, not now.

It took him far too long to get to his feet and walk over to get the weapon, and when he turned around, he froze.

Link looked _too_ serene and peaceful, lying as straight as a rod on the Triforce with his hands folded all nice and neat. Rauru had seen that pose before, eons ago, in one of earliest history tomes of Hyrule’s time. A maiden, a _girl_ , young and magical and innocent, sacrificed to a demon with flames for hair and hate for eyes and—

His seal on the door was casting a warm, angelic glow over Link’s sleeping face, and Rauru thought he was going to be sick.

He scrambled back to the platform, staggering on his weak, buckling legs, and dropped to his knees by the boy. There had to be something he could do for a little peace of mind, something to assure himself that Link was safe for now—

His hands froze halfway between rolling Link back onto his stomach, so the boy was balanced on his side. Rauru stared for a moment, trying to figure out what he wanted to do, but he couldn’t seem to think of something that wouldn’t conjure up more grisly images in his mind.

He wasn’t sure how the idea came into his head, but the next thing he knew, he was unfastening the clasps of his cloak and whisking it off, draping it over the boy like a large, old-fashioned blanket.

It looked rather…normal.

Link had been growing steadily since he fell into the Master Sword’s slumber, but even at thirteen, he was nowhere near the size of Rauru. He should have looked silly, drowned in fabric, but he didn’t. He just looked small. Young. And oddly comfortable. Like he was an ordinary little boy, tucked into his father’s bed.

Father. 

Son.

The words felt strange on the tip of Rauru’s tongue, almost as though they were in another language.

He’d never had much in the way of family. Neither he nor any of the other Sages had spouses or children when they were chosen. Rauru couldn’t remember if he had ever even considered it. He tried to recall his mother and father, or if he had any siblings, but he couldn’t picture him in his head. His memories were full of books and parchment and ink that smelled like berries, and he had done the same things as a Sage that he had done as a Hylian, so he couldn’t tell where one life ended and another began.

The other Sages had been his family, perhaps, for a while, but they had ascended above this realm so long ago that Rauru couldn’t remember their names or what their voices sounded like.

The Goddesses, before their silence, had only messaged him in whispers on the wind, never anything Rauru could answer. Oh, he prayed, constantly, but it wasn’t anything like a true conversation.

In fact, the only person Rauru had spoken to in hundreds of years was Link.

He hadn’t realized how lonely silence was until he had spoken out of the owl’s mouth on the day the boy left Kokiri Forest.

He could remember that day so clearly. How Link almost ran past him, head down and shoulders hunched, hand curled tightly around a carefully whittled ocarina. How patiently he sat and listened, despite the fact that once Rauru first spoke, words poured out of him for what felt like hours. How, after Rauru had given the boy an overly detailed description as to how to read his map, he spontaneously flipped the owl’s head upside down and watched Link’s teary, bloodshot eyes light up in a smile.

He could remember when Link first climbed up Death Mountain, ashy and singed, rubbing a bruise on his back but beaming with pride as he watched all the Gorons descend upon Dodongo’s Cavern. He could remember wrapping his talons carefully around Link’s arms and flying him down to Kakariko, swooping and diving to make the boy laugh. He could remember watching Link read a letter in Lake Hylia and seeing the determination rise inside him. 

Rauru had only known Link for a few weeks, but in those few weeks, the little lost Kokiri became a hero to all the people he met, and it sent a fierce, warm pride bursting through the Sage’s chest.

Was that not how fathers felt about their children?

Rauru was sure it was very close.

He smiled, for real this time, and his hand rested on Link’s arm. It felt firm under his fingers, and for a moment he thought it was simply his thick cloak over the boy’s limbs, but then he realized that it was muscle. Strong, lean muscle.

It probably shouldn’t have surprised him so much. Link was still small and thin, with narrow shoulders and knobbly knees and a lot of room to grow, but he wasn’t quite a child either. Rauru could see it in his face. Link never had a completely round, young face, but now that he looked closer, Rauru could see the jut of his chin, the hollowing of his cheeks. It made him look sharper, even asleep. Sharper and older and stronger.

Rauru’s fingers curled around Link’s arm.

It had to be the Goddesses keeping him fit, or the Master Sword. It wouldn’t do for the Hero of Time to awaken from his coma and not know how to walk, talk, or defend himself. It made sense for Link to grow a strong body.  
Rauru only wished he could do the same.

Maybe he hadn’t aged for centuries, maybe he didn’t have a true physical body, but he was still growing old. He couldn’t ignore it anymore. He needed to spend more and more time mediating to feel rested. If he stretched his arm out too far during his exercises, it wouldn’t feel normal again for hours. His bones still ached from the ReDead’s scream, so deeply it wouldn’t surprise him if he still ached when the next wave of monster came.

As though on cue, a loud _boom_ echoed off the chamber’s walls.

Rauru flinched, but his new seal held strong and its light did not flicker. He had time, several weeks by Hylian time he was lucky. But he couldn’t afford to waste any. If the Goddesses were ensnared and the new Sages were not ascending, then he was the last guard between the Dark Realm and Link.

He could not let the kingdom down.

He would not let the boy down.

He bunched up the hood of his cloak and tucked it under Link’s head before getting to his feet. He did not count or listen the sound of the monsters outside. Instead, he slid into a defensive stance, hefted his sword, and swung it fast enough to hear it _swish_ as it cut through the air.

**Author's Note:**

> Since no one's shut me down yet, I guess I'm doing the disclaimer thing properly!
> 
> Check out my profile for more info!


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